1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the loading and unloading of flowable cargo transported in lined or unlined bulk cargo containers. In particular, it relates to inflatable corner bag assemblies for use in guiding bulk commodity materials to an outlet port in a cargo transport bulkhead.
2. Background Art
Transportation of containers for bulk commodity products (grains, etc) have been implemented using a variety transport vehicles, such as trucks, railroads, and ships. An important economic factor in the transportation of bulk commodities is the speed and ease with which the commodities are loaded onto and unloaded from the container.
Typical methods of loading and unloading the containers are pressure systems such as pumps to force commodities into the container during loading and to provide suction to remove the commodities during unloading. Another popular method is the use of gravity mechanisms. For example, gravity may be used to unload a container by tilting the container such that the bulk commodity flows toward a discharge door at one end of the container.
While both of these methods are generally effective, the unloading process can be improved by more precisely controlling the direction of the bulk material as it flows toward the discharge door. In the prior art approach of merely raising the container to allow most of the bulk commodity to flow out results in some of the commodity remaining in the corners of the container. This creates the additional labor expense of manually removing the residual commodity trapped in the corners. In addition to the labor expense required to remove the residual commodity product from the corners, the economic efficiency of the container and transport vehicle is reduced due to the delay involved with this additional step in the unloading procedure.
This problem was addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,607 to Podd wherein rigid angled corners, hinged to a bulkhead, were used to direct the commodity flow in the direction of the discharge door. This approach alleviated the problem associated with accumulation of commodity residue in the corners of the container.
While addressing the basic desirability of controlling product flow in bulk commodity container systems during unloading, the prior art has centered on passive systems such as a stationary corner. The prior art has not provided an active corner system which assists the flowing of cargo during discharge by active inducement of vibration to reduce settling of cargo and increase the motion of individual cargo particles.